Ligand Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:LGND) Coverage Initiated by Analysts at Leerink Partners

Equities researchers at Leerink Partners started coverage on shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:LGND) in a report issued on Friday, MarketBeat Ratings reports. The firm set an “outperform” rating on the biotechnology company’s stock.

A number of other equities analysts have also recently commented on LGND. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their target price on Ligand Pharmaceuticals from $255.00 to $332.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 8th. Citigroup began coverage on shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Tuesday, July 21st. They set a “buy” rating and a $387.00 price objective for the company. Oppenheimer reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $326.00 price target (up from $285.00) on shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Monday, August 3rd. Bank of America lifted their price objective on shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals from $266.00 to $388.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, July 9th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada upped their target price on shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals from $340.00 to $345.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, August 7th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $336.57.

Ligand Pharmaceuticals Price Performance

LGND stock traded down $0.05 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $288.77. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 12,413 shares, compared to its average volume of 279,220. Ligand Pharmaceuticals has a 12 month low of $149.51 and a 12 month high of $326.63. The company has a quick ratio of 20.95, a current ratio of 34.52 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.16. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.76 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.83, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.55 and a beta of 1.13. The company has a 50 day moving average of $290.64 and a two-hundred day moving average of $238.17.

Ligand Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:LGND) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, August 6th. The biotechnology company reported $2.37 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.97 by $0.40. Ligand Pharmaceuticals had a return on equity of 20.06% and a net margin of 67.88%.The firm had revenue of $63.69 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $61.30 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.60 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 33.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Ligand Pharmaceuticals has set its FY 2026 guidance at 9.000-9.500 EPS. On average, analysts expect that Ligand Pharmaceuticals will post 4.89 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Jason Haas sold 6,461 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, June 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $255.58, for a total value of $1,651,302.38. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 4,981 shares in the company, valued at $1,273,043.98. This trade represents a 56.47% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, Director Jason Aryeh sold 4,500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, June 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $250.00, for a total value of $1,125,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 102,580 shares in the company, valued at $25,645,000. This represents a 4.20% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold 33,197 shares of company stock worth $8,744,572 over the last ninety days. Company insiders own 5.60% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Ligand Pharmaceuticals

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC raised its position in shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals by 86.3% in the third quarter. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC now owns 149 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 69 shares during the period. Kestra Advisory Services LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals during the 4th quarter valued at about $31,000. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals in the 2nd quarter valued at about $75,000. JPL Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals in the 3rd quarter valued at about $52,000. Finally, IFP Advisors Inc raised its holdings in Ligand Pharmaceuticals by 1,040.0% in the 4th quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 342 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $65,000 after purchasing an additional 312 shares during the period. 91.28% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Ligand Pharmaceuticals

Ligand Pharmaceuticals, Inc is a biopharmaceutical company that acquires, develops and out-licenses proprietary technologies designed to help pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies discover and develop novel medicines. Operating primarily through its research services and royalty-generating businesses, Ligand focuses on building a diversified portfolio of technology platforms and partnering with industry leaders to advance therapeutic candidates across multiple disease areas.

The company’s product offerings center around several core platforms.